The Gene Keady influence on Cuonzo Martin and Missouri Tigers men’s basketball
Rare is the virtual meeting with Missouri coach Cuonzo Martin and reporters without him mentioning his former coach, Gene Keady.
Whether the topic is life lessons, personal responsibility or strategy, Martin often summons moments from his days at Purdue as a basketball player and assistant coach.
The retired Keady will be watching from his home in South Carolina when Mizzou meets Oklahoma on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game at Lucas Oil Stadium tips off at 6:25 p.m.
Martin was recruited to Purdue from East St. Louis, Illinois mostly by then-Boilermakers assistant Bruce Weber, now Kansas State’s coach.
But the influence that flowed from Keady to Martin started on campus and continues today with phone calls a couple of times each month.
Keady keeps up with all of his former players and coaches and besides Martin in the NCAA Tournament, there is Purdue and Matt Painter. Martin and Painter were teammates in the early 1990s and on Keady’s staff in the 2000s. The Boilermakers open NCAA play on Friday as a No. 4 seed against North Texas.
“I try not to bother (former players) too much, but I’ll be watching them,” Keady said. “I’ll be pulling for them.”
As a player, Martin impressed the coaching staff before he ever played a game. He arrived at West Lafayette, Indiana with knee problems from ACL surgery complications.
“I remember our training staff saying he’d be limited and maybe not play because of knee problems,” Keady said. “But he didn’t accept that. He worked really hard, running stadium steps, getting himself in playing shape. He proved people wrong.”
Martin went on to average 5.8 points per game as a freshman. He improved steadily throughout his career and was an All-Big Ten selection as a senior.
A Purdue highlight: In a 1994 Sweet 16 game against Kansas, Martin set a school record with eight three-pointers on his way to 29 points against the Jayhawks. The victory sent the Boilermakers to the Elite Eight but it gave Keady, a former three-sport athlete at Kansas State and a native of Larned, Kansas, an additional sense of satisfaction.
“Any time you can beat Kansas…” Keady said.
This from a player who in his first two seasons in college attempted seven three-pointers and missed them all. Then Martin became a marksman, finishing his college career a 45.1% shooter from deep.
A bigger challenge awaited. After a brief stint in the NBA, Martin became a star in Italy and was leading the league in scoring when in late 1997 he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
With aggressive treatments and chemotherapy the cancer went into remission, and Martin planned to return to Italy.
Then he received a call from Keady. A job on Purdue’s staff was Martin’s if he finished his college degree requirements. Martin spent one year at West Lafayette High and started his college coaching career the next season.
“He’s definitely one of the reasons,” Martin said. “I didn’t have a desire really. That wasn’t my goal. My teammate Matt Painter. You knew from day one that’s what he wanted to do. He was always talking about.
“It’s was just (Keady) saying this is something I think you’d be good at.”
Keady retired after the 2005 season, when Painter took over. Martin remained at Purdue until 2008 before succeeding Barry Hinson as head coach at Missouri State.
From there, Martin served as head coach at Tennessee, taking the Volunteers to a Sweet 16, three years at California, and this is his fourth year at Missouri.
Martin has won 59% of his games. He’s been in the NCAA Tournament in four of the last eight years and he’s bidding to win his fourth NCAA game this weekend.
“He’s done special things at each stop,” Keady said. “His programs always got better.”
Every step of the way, players have been gotten a dose of Gene Keady coaching through Martin.
“He was always a man of character,” Martin said. “He always talked about doing the right things. He talked about going to class…all the time.”
Being on time for meetings, taking practice seriously and other obligations echo with Martin from his days at Purdue and are passed along to his teams. “One of the biggest forms of respect is accountability,” Martin said. “It’s when someone can rely on you to do the right things.”
Told that Martin often mentions Keady and the Purdue days to reporters, Keady seemed surprised. Pleasantly.
“That’s nice to hear,” Keady said. “Cuonzo was always a special person.”
This story was originally published March 18, 2021 at 2:33 PM.